Peaches-and-Cream French Toast Casserole

I recently stumbled upon this recipe in one of my magazine and my love for peaches (when you have Fredericksburg zip code it's completely natural) made me instantly yank the entire page from the binding. A few weeks later, I knew it would be the perfect tailgate breakfast for the Missouri game and as a make-the-night-before recipe that you pop into the oven the next morning, it would be a great bake-and-take breakfast. Every bite of this recipe is filled with the taste of summer and fond memories of a french toast breakfast.

Peaches-And-Cream French Toast Casserole

1 8 oz Loaf of French Bread, cubed

8 Large Eggs

2 Cups Milk

1/4 Cup Sugar + 1 tsp

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 15 oz Cans Sliced Peaches in Juice, Drained

1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Butter a 9"x13" baking dish and arrange bread cubes. Whisk eggs with milk, 1/4 sugar, and vanilla until well blended and pour over bread. Arrange peaches on top and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tsp sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight or 8 hours.

Remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to baking and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour cream into a small pan and bring to a boil over high heat; cook until reduced by half (10 - 12 minutes). Drizzle over the top of casserole and bake, uncovered 45 - 55 minutes until lightly brown on top. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This went over extremely well at the tailgate and made me long for summer to be here even sooner so I can use Fredericksburg peaches instead of canned. I'm so giddy my knees tingle at the prospect! Too bad this recipe and a decent tan were the only thing I got from the Missouri game.